Department of Theater Dance and Film
Film 1 Course #70822
Long Beach City College
Fall 2013
**Image from David Holzman's Diary**
Instructor: Roberto S. Oregel
Email: roregel@lbcc.edu
Mondays: 6:45-9:55 p.m.
Room F110
Contact Number: (562) 938-4949,
X6252 B8
Office Hours-Monday at 5:00 pm
by appointment.
Course Description: This class is an introductory course on film
and how we experience film through an analytical lens. Movies are extremely important cultural form
of expression through out the world. In
the first part, we will study the basic elements of film grammar, from shot
construction to editing to sound. In the
second part, we will examine how that grammar is used to crate different kinds
of narratives, including documentaries, and how certain values of storytelling
style have been privileged over others.
Through out the semester, we will focus on detailed analysis of films,
looking closely at the ways in which the elements of cinema come together to
make, or unmake, meaning.
Required Text: "The Film Experience"Corrigan and White. 2nd or 3rd edition.
Recommended Text: Writing about Movies, Karen Gocsik, Richard Barsam, Dave Monahan. Any edition..
The Power of Film, Howard Suber.
Learning Objectives: At the end of the course, students will be
able to gain an understanding of the ways in which films are produced,
distributed, and exhibited. Learn the
formal techniques by which films and other media make meanings. Cultivate the ability to perform close
readings and clear, specific analyses of films. Develop a greater understanding of the
social and technological history of film.
Develop writing and visual analysis skills through critical papers
analyzing films.
Classroom Behavior/Etiquette: Please turn off cell phones. No Texting or using tech tools to be
distracted from class lecture or films screened in class. I expect you to fully be engaged in class and
to participate in class discussion. If you decide to take a call in class, text,
or use a computer for email, fbook, games etc. you will be asked to leave the
class and will be marked absent..
Students
will participate in discussion with full respect to their peers and the
instructor. Please view the LBCC student
conduct especially the following:
1. Willful
disobedience to directions of college officials (including faculty) acting in
the performance of their duties. 2. Dishonesty, such as cheating, or knowingly
furnishing false information to the college. 3. Obstruction or disruption of
classes, administration, disciplinary procedures, or authorized college
activities. 4. Conduct which disrupts orderly operation of the college, or
which disrupts educational activities of individual members of the college
community. 5. Lack of honesty in the classroom is considered a very serious
offense. Any form of cheating on tests,
turning in work which is not one’s own (plagerism), talking during class
lecture, film or during tests, furnishing false information to instructors or
knowingly misrepresenting one-self to the college is grounds for disciplinary
action.
Removal from Class by Instructor - Any
instructor is authorized to remove a student from his/her class for the class
meeting where the infraction occurs as well as the next scheduled class
meeting. The instructor shall immediately report the removal of the student to
the Dean of Student Affairs or designee, including the reason for removal, for
appropriate action.
Students with Disabilities:
|
Students with
disabilities needing accommodation make requests to Disabled Students
Programs & Services, LAC A119 (562) 938-4558, 938-4833 TTY or PCC AA119
938-3921 or by logging into http://dsps.lbcc.edu Discuss approved accommodations with me.
All requests for assistance require advance notice to avoid a delay in
services.
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Class Exercises and
Grading:
1.
Attendance is 50% of your grade. There
will be a sign up sheet started at the beginning of every class and at the end. You get 2 free absences. You don’t have to tell me you’re going to
miss. Any absence beyond 2 needs to be
excused by me and it needs to be documented by either a doctor with official
letter head note. You need to let me
know in advance that you will be missing.
Each unexcused absence beyond 2
will reduce your final course grade by 1/3 of a letter. An “A” becomes an “A-“, “B+” becomes a “B” and a “C” becomes a “C-“
etc. If you miss too many classes, it is
possible to get an “F” as a final grade.
1-B Late to class----If you are late 2 times to
class that will equal to 1 absence.
Please arrive to class on time and stay till the end. If you leave early, before half of the class you will be counted
as an absent. If you stay through half
or more of the class then it will be marked as a late.
2. 2 surprise
in class writing exercises will be given through out the course. YOU CAN’T MAKE THESE WRITING EXERCISES
UP. IF YOU ARE LATE OR ABSENT YOU MISS
OUT ON THE POINTS. Each writing exercise
is 50 points. These two short in class essays should be about ONE
page on a topic given in class. The
short essay should exhibit thought and effort that follows a coherent idea. It is well organized, it presents a
worthwhile and interesting idea, and the idea is supported by sound evidence
presented in a neat and orderly way. The
sentences are clear and in them thought follows naturally on thought. The reader does not have to read the essay
two or three times to get the thought that the writer is trying to convey. If
completed you get 25 points for each essay.
3. Midterm
and Final Exam.
Grading
Points:
140 points
possible for attendance. Each day is
worth 10 points. For any unexcused
absence beyond 2 will reduce your final course grade by 1/3 of a letter. An “A” becomes an “A-“
100 points
possible for surprise essays. Each essay
is 50 points. There will be 2 surprise
essays assigned through out the course.
It’s an all or nothing exercise.
There are no make-ups for this.
The One page essay should exhibit a college level proficiency. Please use proper grammar and punctuation and
it should be legible. If your short
essay has proper grammar, punctuation, and it’s college level work you will get
50 points. If your paper shows very
little effort and has too many grammar errors, then you get a 0 for the work.
100 points
for Midterm
100 points
for Final
440 points possible
GRADE BREAK DOWN
435-440 is
an A+ 402-434 is an A 396-401 is an A-
395-400 is a
B+ 362-394 is a B 356-361 is a B-
355-360 is a
C+ 322-354 is a C 316-321 is a C-
315-320 is a
D+ 282-314 is a D 308-313 is a D-
312 and
below is an F
Student
Learning Outcomes: 1. Appraise the contributions and attitudes
of a film’s various artists and elements. 2. Identify and evaluate theme and
story within a film. 3. Analyze
fictional and dramatic elements of a film including linear and nonlinear
structure, significance of title, symbolism and irony. 4. Identify and analyze visual design,
cinematography and various forms of editing within a film. 5. Identify and evaluate the use of sound
effects and dialogue as a plot device and as a transitional element. 6. Recognize and analyze the importance of
music and film and examine the general and special functions of the musical
score.
Class Schedule
and Film Screenings:
Week
1, August 26 Film Screening , “American
Movie” (1999) by Chris Smith. Lecture: The Film Experience—Studying Film:
Culture, Practice Experience.—Reading p. 5-17
Week
2, September 2 No School
Week
3, September 9 Film Screening, “Hearts of Darkness: A
Filmmaker’s Apocalypse” (1991) by Fax Bahr, George Hickenlooper, Eleanor
Coppola. Lecture: Encountering Film: From Preproduction to Exhibition. Reading
p. 19-59
Week
4, September 16 Film Screening, “Citizen Kane” (1941) by Orson Wells. Lecture : Exploring a Material World,
Mise-en-scéne. Reading 63-93
Week
5, September 23 Film Screening “Chungking
Express” (1994) by Wong Kar Wei .
Lecture: Framing What you see—Cinematography. Reading 95-131
Week
6, September 30 Film Screening “Dancer in the Dark” (2000 by Lars Von Trier. Lecture: Relating
Images, Editing. Reading 133-175
Week
7, October 7 Film Screening “Delicatessen”
(1991) by Marc Caro and Jean-Pierre Jeunet.
Lecture: Listening to the Cinema.
Reading 177-211.
Week 8, October 14 Film Screening “Tokyo Story” (1953) by
Yasujiro Ozu. Lecture: Telling
Stories-Narrative Films. Reading 215-253
(MID TERM REVEW)
Week 9, October 21 MIDTERM
Week
10, October 28 Film Screening “Sherman’s March” (1985) by
Ross McElwee. Lecture: Representing the
Real-Documentary Films. Reading 255-283.
Week
11, November 4 Film Screening “Un Chien Andalou” (1929) by
Luis Buñuel, “Pi” (1998) by Darren Aronofsky.
Lecture: Challenging Form, Experimental Film and New Media. Reading 285-313.
Week
12, November 11 No School
Week
13 , November 18 Film Screening
“A Night at the Opera” (1935) by the Marx Brothers. Lecture: Rituals, Conventions, Archetypes,
and Formulas-Movie Genres. Reading
315-351
Week
14 , November 25 Film Screening “Singing
in the Rain” (1952) by Stanley Donen and Gene Kelly. Lecture: History and Historiography—Hollywood
and Beyond. Reading 355-397.
Week
15, December 2 Film Screening “Eloy Take Two” (2010), “One Man Show” by Oregel. Guest
Speakers, Eloy Torrez, Jainy Steele, Bob Weiner.
Week
16, December 9 Final Exam
**The reading
schedule, films in class as well as this syllabus is meant to be flexible. As the class develops, I may add or drop any
reading, film or assignment to respond to the direction of the course. These Additions or subtractions should not
greatly reduce or increase the amount of reading you will be expected to
complete.*****
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